Spraying

ABSTRACT

In a system for washing garments while hung on hangers, a spray soak station comprising a spray chamber, a conveyor extending longitudinally through the station and arrayed for transporting garments on hangers therethrough, two sets of nozzles mounted within the chamber in a first generally horizontal plane below the conveyor, one of the sets being mounted on each side of the vertical plane including the conveyor and each of the sets including a plurality of nozzles mounted along a respective line extending generally parallel to the conveyor, that improvement wherein each of the sets includes a plurality of conical spray nozzles and a plurality of flat spray nozzles, the nozzles being arranged such that at least some of the conical nozzles are intermediate respective pairs of the flat spray nozzles, and each flat spray nozzles is mounted with the plane including the major spray angle thereof forming an angle in the range of about 30* to about 60* with the respective line along which the respective nozzle is mounted.

United States Patent [191 Harkison Dec. 23, 1975 SPRAYING [73] Assignee:A-T-O Inc., Willoughby, Ohio [22] Filed: Apr. 1, 1974 [21] Appl. No.:456,724

[52] US. Cl 68/3 R; 68/205 R; 68/207;

68/208 [51] Int. Cl. D06F 35/00 [58] Field of Search 68/3 R, 5 C, 205 R,207, I 68/208 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,732,7011/1956 Smith et al 68/205 R X 2,918,925 112/1959 Dopler 68/205 R X3,085,416 4/1963 D'l-Iooge... 68/207 X 3,644,085 2/1972 Beeley et al.68/5 C X 3,664,159 5/1972 Mazza 68/205 R 3,686,899 8/1972 Rosenfeld etal. 68/205 R X 3,768,283 10/1973 Bold et al...., v 68/205 R 3,827,2628/1974 Manuel 68/205 R X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 849,920

8/1939 France 68/205 R 20,757 12/1929 Australia 68/205 R PrimaryExaminerEdward L. Roberts Assistant ExaminerPhilip R. Coe

[5 7] ABSTRACT In a system for washing garments while hung on hangers, aspray soak station comprising a spray chamber, a conveyor extendinglongitudinally through the station and arrayed for transporting garmentson hangers therethrough, two sets of nozzles mounted within the chamberin a first generally horizontal plane below the conveyor, one of thesets being mounted on each side of the vertical plane including theconveyor and each of the sets including a plurality of nozzles mountedalong a respective line extending generally parallel to the conveyor,that improvement wherein each of the sets includes a plurality ofconical spray nozzles and a plurality of flat spray nozzles, the nozzlesbeing arranged such that at least some of the conical nozzles areintermediate respective pairs of the flat spray nozzles, and each flatspray nozzles is mounted with the plane including the major spray anglethereof forming an angle in the range of about 30 to about 60 with therespective line along which the respective nozzle is mounted. a

19 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of23,927,539

FIG I FIG 2 US; Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,927,539

FIG 4 FIG 5 SPRAYING disclose a conveyor for successive garments onhang-- ers, and a series of soak, wash, and rinse stations through whichthe garments are successively conveyed. In the wash and rinse stations,and in the soak station of the application, liquid spray is directed inthe transverse direction against the broad sides of the garments. In thesoak station of the system disclosed in the patent, the garments arecompletely immersed in a soak tank.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a spraysoaking system which completely and efficiently soaks all portions ofhanging garments.

Other objects include providing such apparatus that is useful for spraybleaching of garments prior to washing, and that is easily cleaned.

This invention features, in a system for washing garments while hung onhangers, a spray soak station comprising a spray chamber, a conveyorextending longitudinally through the station and arrayed fortransporting garments on hangers therethrough, two sets of nozzlesmounted within the chamber in a first generally horizontal plane belowthe conveyor, one of the sets being mounted on each side of the verticalplane including the conveyor and each of the sets including a pluralityof nozzles mounted along a respective line extending generally parallelto the conveyor, that improvement wherein each of the sets includes aplurality of conical spray nozzles and a plurality of flat spraynozzles, the nozzles being arranged such that at least some of theconical nozzles are intermediate respective pairs of the flat spraynozzles, and each flat spray nozzles is mounted with the plane includingthe major spray angle thereof forming an angle in the range of about toabout 60 with the respective line along which the respective nozzle ismounted. In preferred embodiments in which the conical spray nozzles arehollow spray nozzles having a spray angle of not less than about 50 andare alternately arranged with the flat spray nozzles, each flat spraynozzle has a spray angle of not less than about 60, its spray planeforms an angle of about with its respective line, and the spray planesof successive flat spray nozzles are generally perpendicular, there isfeatured two additional nozzle sets including alternately arrangedconical hollow spray and flat spray nozzles arranged along respectivelines generally parallel to the conveyor in a second generallyhorizontal plane above the first plane, one of the additional sets beingon each side of the vertical plane, the nozzles of the first two setspointing generally upwardly, the nozzles of the,additional two setspointing generally downwardly, the vertical distance between thehorizontal planes being on the order of three feet, the horizontaldistance between the nozzles in the first plane being about the same asthe width of the garments on hangers and greater than the horizontaldistance between the nozzles in the second plane, the conveyor arrangedto 2 transport the garments with their broad sides generallyperpendicular to the direction of movement initially at a first spacingand thereafter at a second spacing, and the soak chamber mounted on atank having cleaning pipes extending along the two high sides of adiagonally sloping tank bottom.

Other objects, features, and advantages will appear from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, takentogether with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a spray system embodying the presentinvention, the section being taken at ll of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken at 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2;and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken, respectively, at 4-4 and 5-5 ofFIG. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings there is shown a spray soakmodule, generally designated 10, comprising an upper spray chamber 12having an overall height of about 6% feet, an overall length of about 20feet, and an overall width of about 3% feet, mounted on a lower tank 14having the same overall length, a height of about 1% feet and an overallwidth of about 5 feet. The walls of both chamber 12 and tank 14 are offiberglass, for ease of cleaning and resistance to the washing liquid.

A screw conveyor 16 extends longitudinally through spray chamber 12,midway between the sides 18, 20 of the spray chamber and about 2 inchesbelow its top 22. As shown, conveyor 16 extends beyond the inlet end 24and outlet end 26 of spray module 10. It is designed to transportgarments 28 on hangers 30 with their broad sides perpendicular to thedirection of travel, i.e., to the axis of the conveyor, from a hangingstation (not shown) before the inlet end 24 to a washing station (notshown) after the outlet end 26. The garment spacing is maintained byeach garment hanger riding in the spiral groove 17 of conveyor 16.Groove 17 is not uniform the full length of the conveyor, rather, itincludes an initialsubsection which maintains the garments onapproximately 1 inch centers for the first 10 feet through the chamber,and a second subsection which maintains the garments at approximately 2inch centers the next 10 feet through the chambers. There is, of course,a smooth transition, at the chamber center, between thetwo subsections.The screw conveyor is rotated at such a speed that 27 minutes arerequired for a hanger to be transported from inlet 24 to outlet 26.

A pair of spray pipes, upper spray pipe 32 and lower spray pipe 34, ismounted on each side of conveyor 16, with the longitudinal axis of eachspray pipe extending parallel to the axis of conveyor 16. Upper spraypipes 32 are spaced 10 inches from each other (5 inches on either sideof the vertical plane including conveyor 16) in a horizontal planespaced about 6 inches below conveyor 16. The exact distance dependsprincipally on the design of hangers 30 and is such that the top of agarment on the hanger will be about 6 inches below pipes 32.

Lower spray pipes 34 are spaced l7 inchesfrom each other (8% in. oneither side of conveyor 16) in a horizontal plane spaced 38 in. belowthe plane of upper pipes 32. This distance is such that the bottom ofthe sleeve of a shirt on the hanger will be at least 1 inch above thenozzles on pipes 34. The bottom of a shirt tail, or of pants or dresseson the hanger, will be below the pipes 34. In the illustratedembodiment, lower spray pipes 34 are 49 in. above the bottom of tank 14.

A plurality of spray nozzles are mounted at 6 inch intervals along thefull length of each of pipes 32, 34, with the central spray axis of eachnozzle perpendicular to the axis of the respective pipe. As shown inFIG.' 2, the nozzles on pipe 32 are mounted with their spray axespointing generally downwardly; the nozzles on pipes 34 with their sprayaxes pointing generally upwardly.

The nozzles mounted on each pipe are of two types, flat spray nozzles 42(VeeJet Brand, No. HH 1/4 8010, sold by Spraying Systems Co. ofBellwood, Illinois) and hollow cone spray nozzles 44 (Whirljet Brand,No. 1/4 B 5, sold by Spraying Systems Co. of Bellwood, Illinois). Oneach pipe, the two types of nozzles are alternately arranged, asillustrated in FIGS. 35.

As shown in FIG. 5, each nozzle 44 produces a hollow conical sprayhaving a spray angle a, of not less than about 50 at 40 p.s.i.(preferably, not less than about 70 at 40 p.s.i.) and an annular impactarea. The nozzles of the preferred embodiment are rated at 1.0 gallonper minute (gpm) at 40 p.s.i. and have a spray angle of 70 at p.s.i. and79 at 80 p.s.i.

Each flat spray nozzle 42, as shown in FIG. 4, produces a spray patternhaving a significant angular dispersion, spray angle B, in one plane(its plane of spray or spray plane) and virtually no angular dispersionin the perpendicular plane, thereby producing an impact area having alength, I, that is several times its width, w. The nozzles of theillustrated preferred embodiment have a rated capacity of 1.0 gpm and aspray angle of 80- at 40 p.s.i. In other embodiments, other types offlat spray nozzles having a spray angle of not less than about 60, andpreferably not less than about 75, at 40 p.s.i. may be used.

As shown in FIG. 3, each flat spray nozzle 42 is mounted on a respectivepipe 32, 34 with the plane of the spray (the plane including spray anglea and impact area length l) at a 45 angle to the axis of the pipe and,thus, to the plane (perpendicular to the conveyor 16) of the garmentsbeing transported through spray chamber 38 by the conveyor. Successiveflat spray nozzles 42 are offset from the pipe axis in differentdirections, so that the angle between the spray planes of successivenozzles 42 is about 90". In other embodiments, the angle of offsetbetween the spray plane of each flat spray nozzle and the respectivepipe (or advancing garment plane) may vary between about and about 60".

For supplying spray liquid to pipes 32, 34, an inlet pipe 36 extendsfrom a pump 38 (rated capacity of 80 gpm at 60 p.s.i.) through tank 14into the bottom of chamber 12, and then splits into two branches 40,each of which is connected to an end of one of pipes 32 and an end ofone of pipes 34. Tank 14 has an inlet from a fresh liquid source 48;pump 38 has an inlet 50 within tank 14 for recirculating liquid from thetank. Valves 47 are provided in branches above pipes 34 so that, whenliquid is forced into the inlet pipe from pump 38, it may be sprayedfrom either the nozzles on lower pipes 34 alone, or, when desired, fromthe nozzles on upper pipes 32 as well.

The top of tank 14 is covered by a horizontal screen 52, to prevent lintand the like from garments carried on conveyor 16 from dropping into thetank. Access into soak chamber 12 is provided through doors (not shown)in side wall 20; and a hatch cover 54 is provided on the top of tank 14to permit access to within the tank.

The bottom 56 of tank 14 is not flat, but slopes diagonally downwardlyfrom the corner defined by its two high sides adjacent outlet end 26 andside 18. A drain outlet 58 is provided at the lower corner of the tank.A cleaning spray pipe 60 extends along the high sides of bottom 58, withspray openings spaced therealong and directed toward the tank bottom.

In operation, screw conveyor is rotated at the rate required to advancehanger-carrying groove 17 at a speed of 400 inches per hour, andgarments on hangers are placed on the conveyor at inlet 28 at 1 inchintervals. As mentioned previously, the conveyor advances the garments,with their broad sides perpendicular to the direction of movement,through spray chamber 14 in about 27 minutes.

Pump 38 is activated, and soak liquid from fresh liquid source 48 ispumped through pipes 32 and the nozzles 42, 44 thereon, and sprayedupwardly against the garments, thoroughly innundating them. Normally,valves 47 are closed so that no liquid is sprayed from the nozzles onpipes 32. If extra soaking is desired, or if downward spray is desirablebecause of the type of garment, valves 47 are opened and liquid frompumps 48 also is sprayed through the nozzles 42, 44 on pipes 32downwardly against the moving garments.

Initially, after tank 14 has filled to about threefourths of its depth,the pump is connected to tank inlet 50, and the liquid in the tank isrecirculated. When the liquid becomes too dirty, it is drained from tankthrough drain outlet 60, the tank bottom 58 is washed by spray from pipe60, and fresh liquid is supplied from source 48.

Generally, the soak liquid is water. However, various chemicals may bemixed therein. Often, the chemicals are mixed by pouring them into tank14 through hatch cover 54 after the tank has been partially filed. Withsome chemicals, such as liquid bleach, an injector is provided in inletpipe 36 and is connected to a chemical (bleach) source 72. Flow ofbleach from source 72 to injector 70 is controlled by valve 74.

It has been found that when, for example, the garments to be washed arestained with blood or the like, it is highly advantageous to mix bleachwith the spray liquid and bleach spray the garments at the time ofinitial soak and before washing.

As previously mentioned, the spray washing module of the presentinvention is useful with, for example washing systems of the typedisclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,686,899 and US. patent application Ser. No.194,345, the disclosures of both of which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference. When used with the system of the patent, soak spray module10 is substituted for soak zone 22 of the patent, with the inlet end ofthe conveyor 16 connected to receive garments from patent delay zone 18and the outlet end of conveyor 16 connected to advance garments topatent spray zone 24. In the system of the prior application, soak spraymodule 10 of this application is substituted for soak spray station 16,and the outlet end of conveyor 16 is connected to discharge garmentsinto prior application washing station 18. However, turning apparatus,such as that disclosed in the patent must be interposed between soakmodule 10 and prior application washing station 18 to rotate thegarments from the soak module to place their long dimension parallel tothe direction of travel, before they enter the washing station.

Other embodiments will be within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. In a system for washing garments while hung on hangers and includinga spray soak station comprising a spray chamber, a conveyor extendinglongitudinally through said station. and arranged for transportinggarments on hangers th'roughsaid' chamber withthe broad sides thereofgenerallyparallel to each other and perpendicular to said conveyor, twosets of nozzles mounted within said chamber in a first generallyhorizontal plane below said conveyor, one of said sets being mounted oneach side of the vertical plane, including said conveyor, each of saidsets including a plurality of nozzles mounted along a respective, lineextending generally parallel to said conveyor, and each of said nozzlesbeing arranged to direct spray fluid against said garments on hangersbeing transported through said chamber on said conveyor, thatimprovement wherein: ,each of said sets includesa plurality of conicalspray nozzles and a plurality of flat spray nozzles, and the nozzles ofsaid each of said sets are arranged such that at least some of theconical nozzles of said each set are intermediate respective pairs offlat spray nozzles of said each set.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said flat spray nozzles ismounted with its plane of spray forming an angle in the range of about30 to about 60 with the planes of said broad sides.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the flat spray nozzles and conicalspray nozzles of each of said sets are alternately arranged along therespective line of said each set.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said flat spray nozzles has aspray angle at 40 p.s.i. of not less than about 60, and each of saidconical spray nozzles is a hollow spray nozzle producing an annularimpact area and having a spray angle at 40 p.s.i. of not less than about50.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said spray angle of said flat spraynozzles is not less than about 80, and said spray angle of said conicalspray nozzles is not less than about 75.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein, in each of said sets, the planes ofspray of successive ones of said flat spray nozzles are generallyperpendicular to each other.

7. In a system for washing garments while hung on hangers and includinga spray soak station comprising a spray chamber, a conveyor extendinglongitudinally through said station and arranged for transportinggarments on hangers through said chamber with the broad sides thereofgenerally parallel to each other and per- 6 said garments on' hangersbeing transported through said chamber on said conveyor; each of saidnozzles of said further sets'is arranged to direct spray fluid generallydownwardly and against said garments on hangers being transportedthrough said chamber on said conveyor;--

the horizontal distance between said first sets is greaterthan thehorizontal distance between said further sets;

each of said first and further sets includes a plurality of conicalspray nozzles and a plurality of flat spray nozzles; and,

the nozzles of each of said first and further are arranged such that atleast some of the conical nozzles of said each set' are intermediaterespective pairs of flat spray nozzles of said eachset.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the'vertical distance between saidfirst horizontal plane and said second horizontal plane is about 3 feet,and the horizontal distance between said sets in said first plane isapproximately the same as the width of said garments on hangers.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said flat spray nozzles ismounted with the plane of spray thereof forming an angle in the range ofabout to about 60 with the planes of said broad sides, and the flatspray nozzles and conical spray nozzles of each of said sets arealternately arranged along the respective line of said each set.

pendicular to the direction of movement thereof through said chamber,two first sets of nozzles mounted within said chamber in a firstgenerally horizontal plane below said conveyor, one of said first setsbeing mounted on each side of the vertical plane including saidconveyor, two further sets of nozzles mounted within said chamber in asecond generally horizonal plane above said first horizontal plane, oneof said further sets being mounted on each side of said vertical planeincluding said conveyor, and each of said first and further setsincluding a plurality of nozzles mounted along a respective lineextending generally parallel to said conveyor, that improvement wherein:

each of said nozzles of said first sets is arranged to direct sprayfluid generally upwardly and against 10. The system of claim 9 whereinsaid angle is about 45, each of said conical spray nozzles is a hollowspray nozzle having a spray angle at 40 p.s.i. of not less than about50, and each of said flat spray nozzles has a spray angle at 40 p.s.i.of not less than about 60.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein successive flat spray nozzles of eachof said sets are offset in opposite directions relative to said planesperpendicular to said conveyor and said lines. 7

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the planes of spray of saidsuccessive flat spray nozzles of each of said sets are generallyperependicular to each other, said angle with the planes of said broadsides is about 45, said conical spray nozzles are hollow spray nozzleshaving spray angles of not less than about at 40 p.s.i., and said flatspray nozzles have spray angles of not less than about at 40 p.s.i.

13. In a system for washing garments while hung on hangers and includinga spray soak station comprising a spray chamber, a conveyor extendinglongitudinally through said station thereof, and arranged fortransporting garments on hangers through said chamber with the broadsides thereof generally perpendicular to the direction of movement, twosets of nozzles mounted within said chamber in a first generallyhorizontal plane below said conveyor, one of said sets being mounted oneach side of the vertical plane including said conveyor, each of saidsets including a plurality of nozzles mounted along a respective lineextending generally parallel to said conveyor, and each of said nozzlesbeing arranged to direct spray fluid against said garments on hangersbeing transported through said chamber on said conveyor, thatimprovement wherein:

each of said sets includes a plurality of conical spray nozzles and aplurality of flat spray nozzles;

the nozzles of said each of said sets are arranged such that at leastsome of the conical nozzles of said each set are intermediate respectivepairs of flat spray nozzles of each set; and,

said garments are transported through an initial portion of said chamberat a first spacing and through a subsequent portion of said chamber at asecond spacing greater than said first spacing.

14. The system of claim 7 wherein the flat spray nozzles and conicalspray nozzles of each of said first and further sets are alternatelyarranged along the respective line of each of said first and furthersets, each of said flat spray nozzles of said first and further sets ismounted with the plane of spray thereof forming an angle in the range ofabout 30 to about 60 with the planes of said broad sides and successiveflat spray nozzles of said first and further sets are offset in oppositedirections relative to said planes of said broad sides.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said soak station includes a tank onwhich said spray chamber is mounted, and a pump having its outletconnected to said nozzles, a first inlet adapted for connection to anexterior fluid source and a second inlet within said tank.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein said tank is rectangular inhorizontal cross section and the bottom of said tank slopes diagonally,a drain opening being provided at the lowest corner of said bottom and aspray pipe being mounted along one of the higher edges of said bottomfor directing washing spray against said bottom.

17. The system of claim 15 including a conduit extending from saidoutlet of said pump toward said nozzles and including means forinjecting washing chemicals into fluid flowing from said pump throughsaid conduit.

18. The system of claim 15 including valving operative for permittingflow from said pump to all of said nozzles or to said nozzles in saidfirst horizontal plane only.

19. The system of claim 14 wherein the planes of spray of saidsuccessive flat spray nozzles of each of said sets are generallyperpendicular to each other, said conical spray nozzles are hollow spraynozzles having spray angles of not less than about at 40 p.s.i., andsaid flat spray nozzles have spray angles of not less than about at 40p.s.i.

Dedication 3,927,539.NOMmm W. Harlcison, Taylor Ridge, 111. SPRAYING.Patent dated Dec; 23, 1975. Dedication filed'N'v. 25, 1977, by theassignee,

Ludell M 00., Inc.

Herelgy dejdicdfies to the Public 15 f remainin gterm of said patent.

[Oyficz'al Gzzette April 11, 1.978.]

1. In a system for washing garments while hung on hangers and includinga spray soak station comprising a spray chamber, a conveyor extendinglongitudinally through said station and arranged for transportinggarments on hangers through said chamber with the broad sides thereofgenerally parallel to each other and perpendicular to said conveyor, twosets of nozzles mounted within said chamber in a first generallyhorizontal plane below said conveyor, one of said sets being mounted oneach side of the vertical plane including said conveyor, each of saidsets including a plurality of nozzles mounted along a respective lineextending generally parallel to said conveyor, and each of said nozzlesbeing arranged to direct spray fluid against said garments on hangersbeing transported through said chamber on said conveyor, thatimprovement wherein: each of said sets includes a plurality of conicalspray nozzles and a plurality of flat spray nozzles, and the nozzles ofsaid each of said sets are arranged such that at least some of theconical nozzles of said each set are intermediate respective pairs offlat spray nozzles of said each set.
 2. The system of claim 1 whereineach of said flat spray nozzles is mounted with its plane of sprayforming an angle in the range of about 30* to about 60* with the planesof said broad sides.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the flat spraynozzles and conical spray nozzles of each of said sets are alternatelyarranged along the respective line of said each set.
 4. The system ofclaim 1 wherein each of said flat spray nozzles has a spray angle at 40p.s.i. of not less than about 60*, and each of said conical spraynozzles is a hollow spray nozzle producing an annular impact area andhaving a spray angle at 40 p.s.i. of not less than about 50*.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4 wherein said spray angle of said flat spray nozzles isnot less than about 80*, and said spray angle of said conical spraynozzles is not less than about 75*.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein, ineach of said sets, the planes of spray of successive ones of said flatspray nozzles are generally perpendicular to each other.
 7. In a systemfor washing garments while hung on hangers and including a spray soakstation comprising a spray chamber, a conveyor extending longitudinallythrough said station and arranged for transporting garments on hangersthrough said chamber with the broad sides thereof generally parallel toeach other and perpendicular to the direction of movement thereofthrough said chamber, two first sets of nozzles mounted within saidchamber in a first generally horizontal plane below said conveyor, oneof said first sets being mounted on each side of the vertical planeincluding said conveyor, two further sets of nozzles mounted within saidchamber in a second generally horizonal plane above said firsthorizontal plane, one of said further sets being mounted on each side ofsaid vertical plane including said conveyor, and each of said first andfurther sets including a plurality of nozzles mounted along a respectiveline extending generally parallel to said conveyor, that improvementwherein: each of said nozzles of said first sets is arranged to directspray fluid generally upwardly and against said garments on hangersbeing transported through said chamber on said conveyor; each of saidnozzles of said further sets is arranged to direct spray fluid generallydownwardly and against said garments on hangers being transportedthrough said chamber on said conveyor; the horizontal distance betweensaid first sets is greater than the horizontal distance between saidfurther sets; each of said first and further sets includes a pluralityof conical spray nozzles and a plurality of flat spray nozzles; and, thenozzles of each of said first and further are arranged such that atleast some of the conical nozzles of said each set are intermediaterespective pairs of flat spray nozzles of said each set.
 8. The systemof claim 7 wherein the vertical distance between said first horizontalplane and said second horizontal plane is about 3 feet, and thehorizontal distance between said sets in said first plane isapproximately the same as the width of said garments on hangers.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein each of said flat spray nozzles is mountedwith the plane of spray thereof forming an angle in the range of about30* to about 60* with the planes of said broad sides, and the flat spraynozzles and conical spray nozzles of each of said sets are alternatelyarranged along the respective line of said each set.
 10. The system ofclaim 9 wherein said angle is about 45*, each of said conical spraynozzles is a hollow spray nozzle having a spray angle at 40 p.s.i. ofnot less than about 50*, and each of said flat spray nozzles has a sprayangle at 40 p.s.i. of not less than about 60*.
 11. The system of claim 9wherein successive flat spray nozzles of each of said sets are offset inopposite directions relative to said planes perpendicular to saidconveyor and said lines.
 12. The system of claim 11 wherein the planesof spray of said successive flat spray nozzles of each of said sets aregenerally perependicular to each other, said angle with the planes ofsaid broad sides is about 45*, said conical spray nozzles are hollowspray nozzles having spray angles of not less than about 75* at 40p.s.i., and said flat spray nozzles have spray angles of not less thanabout 80* at 40 p.s.i.
 13. In a system for washing garments while hungon hangers and including a spray soak station comprising a spraychamber, a conveyor extending longitudinally through said stationthereof, and arranged for transporting garments on hangers through saidchamber with the broad sides thereof generally perpendicular to thedirection of movement, two sets of nozzles mounted within said chamberin a first generally horizontal plane below said conveyor, one of saidsets being mounted on each side of the vertical plane including saidconveyor, each of said sets including a plurality of nozzles mountedalong a respective line extending generally parallel to said conveyor,and each of said nozzles being arranged to direct spray fluid againstsaid garments on hangers being transported through said chamber on saidconveyor, that improvement wherein: each of said sets includes aplurality of conical spray nozzles and a plurality of flat spraynozzles; the nozzles of said each of said sets are arranged such that atleast some of the conical nozzles of said each set are intermediaterespective pairs of flat spray nozzles of each set; and, said garmentsare transported through an initial portion of said chamber at a firstspacing and through a subsequent portion of said chamber at a secondspacing greater than said first spacing.
 14. The system of claim 7wherein the flat spray nozzles and conical spray nozzles of each of saidfirst and further sets are alternately arranged along the respectiveline of each of said first and further sets, each of said flat spraynozzles of said first and further sets is mounted with the plane ofspray thereof forming an angle in the range of about 30* to about 60*with the planes of said broad sides and successive flat spray nozzles ofsaid first and further sets are offset in opposite directions relativeto said planes of said broad sides.
 15. The system of claim 14 whereinsaid soak station includes a tank on which said Spray chamber ismounted, and a pump having its outlet connected to said nozzles, a firstinlet adapted for connection to an exterior fluid source and a secondinlet within said tank.
 16. The system of claim 15 wherein said tank isrectangular in horizontal cross section and the bottom of said tankslopes diagonally, a drain opening being provided at the lowest cornerof said bottom and a spray pipe being mounted along one of the higheredges of said bottom for directing washing spray against said bottom.17. The system of claim 15 including a conduit extending from saidoutlet of said pump toward said nozzles and including means forinjecting washing chemicals into fluid flowing from said pump throughsaid conduit.
 18. The system of claim 15 including valving operative forpermitting flow from said pump to all of said nozzles or to said nozzlesin said first horizontal plane only.
 19. The system of claim 14 whereinthe planes of spray of said successive flat spray nozzles of each ofsaid sets are generally perpendicular to each other, said conical spraynozzles are hollow spray nozzles having spray angles of not less thanabout 75* at 40 p.s.i., and said flat spray nozzles have spray angles ofnot less than about 80* at 40 p.s.i.